West German Patent (DE-PS) No. 36 31 834 discloses that solutions of trialkoxysilanes are only very briefly stable in the presence of water, that is, for only a few hours. Depending on the concentration of the alkyltrialkoxysilane, the silicon compound precipitates within a few hours to several days in the form of insoluble, oily, polymeric siloxanols. It has therefore been proposed to stabilize such solutions by adding alkali metal silicates thereto. Such a stabilization, however, is not feasible when the silane concentrations are high.
When alkyltrialkoxysilanes are used in aqueous solution, therefore, the silicon compound must be transported as such to the point of use where it must be processed. Due to the long periods of time that are necessary for the preparation of clear, uniform solutions, for example, this entails processing problems. Furthermore, alkyltrialkoxysilanes with aliphatic moieties containing 1 to 4 carbon atoms are flammable liquids whose vapor can form explosive mixtures with air. The transportation and handling of these substances is thus made difficult, and costly safety measures are required.